Chapter 400: Chaos in front of the door (two in one)
Accompanied by Shen Zhong, Mei Cheng'an and Fan Xian strolled all the way back to the delegation. Unexpectedly, when they just arrived in front of the villa, they saw a messy scene, which startled them.
The open space in front of the villa is now crowded with people, all facing the villa gate and shouting something. It is very noisy, and a large number of people are constantly gathering there, and the number of people is increasing.
The Northern Qi guards stationed in the villa, together with the guards of the delegation, were trying their best to stop the crowd and maintain order.
Gaoda and Wang Qinian, who had returned earlier, stood on the steps in front of the door with anxious and helpless faces. Wang Qinian stretched out his hands and stretched his neck to shout something, but he could not suppress the surging crowd at all.
When the three of them got closer, they found another wonder behind the crowd. There were two weapons mountains made of swords, guns, sticks, axes, hooks and forks piled up on the ground. As the number of people increased, the height of the weapons mountains continued to rise, making the crisp sound of sharp blades colliding.
Mei Cheng'an knew what was going on at a glance, but he was still surprised. The delegation entered the capital in a low-key manner, and the famous scene of Fan Xian's single-handed sword guarding the cavalry did not happen. So what kind of madness were these Northern Qi warriors going through?
If he was merely surprised, then Fan Xian could be said to be shocked and confused, completely unable to understand what was going on.
With a hiss, Fan Xian pointed at the two piles of weapons and the bustling crowd around them, tilted his head to look at Shen Zhong, and asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"What does this mean, Master Shen?"
Shen Zhong glanced at the mountain of weapons and explained with an "oh".
"That's right. Throwing the knife at your feet is a custom of our Great Qi. It means inviting the envoys to a martial arts duel!"
"duel?"
Fan Xian glanced at the densely packed crowd.
"Ber, why? There must be a reason, right?"
At this time, Chen Wen, the envoy of the Honglu Temple who had been hiding behind the gate of the villa and had been feeling uneasy, saw through the crowd that the chief and deputy envoys had returned. He breathed a sigh of relief, walked around the crowd along the wall and came in front of them. He just happened to hear Fan Xian's question, glanced at Shen Zhong, bowed to the two of them, and then leaned close to them and whispered.
"I don't know who leaked part of the agreement between the two countries. When the people of Shangjing learned that Northern Qi was going to cede land, they were outraged. Ordinary people didn't dare to do anything, but those warriors and the children of the princes and nobles went straight to our delegation's residence and said they wanted to compete with us Nan...Qing people to avenge our shame on the battlefield!"
Mei Chengan was stunned and then curled his lips. What was supposed to come finally came. However, this news was kept secret before, but suddenly...
Thinking about it, he glanced at Shen Zhong and thought it must be this guy who was causing trouble.
What a coincidence! Fan Xian thought so too. After listening to Chen Wen's description, his eyes flashed and he looked directly at Shen Zhong.
Shen Zhong smiled.
"Master Fan, why are you looking at me? I don't know how the news was leaked, so this matter has nothing to do with me. Ah, by the way, let me remind you that these things..."
As he spoke, Shen Zhong raised his hand, pointed at the crowd and smiled.
"This is just an appetizer. There are far more warriors in Qi who are worried about political affairs. I think those who want to fight with Guishi Group are coming one after another. Master Fan and Master Mei, take care. Shen will take his leave!"
After saying this, he turned around and left without waiting for the two to react.
Folding his arms and watching him leave with a sidelong glance, Fan Xian snorted and looked away at Mei Chengan with disdain.
"This guy actually wants to use this trick to hold us back. He's not afraid of hitting his own feet. He really underestimates us."
Mei Chengan smiled.
"Since he is so calculating, if he wishes..."
Before he could finish his words, a Northern Qi warrior standing at the back of the crowd who had heard what Shen Zhong said before he left and had been secretly looking back at them suddenly turned around and asked.
"Are you Fan Xian, the chief envoy of the diplomatic mission?"
Fan Xian was listening to his fellow villager talking, and was very annoyed by the sudden interruption. He turned his head to look over and asked back impatiently without thinking.
"It's your father. Who are you...ah."
The last word "ah" was spoken in a much quieter voice. Before that, he was stunned for a moment, because what he saw was not one person, but a large number of heads turning back to look at him. The originally noisy scene suddenly became quiet without him knowing when.
"Forehead…"
Being stared at and watched closely by a group of big men, even though Fan Xian was a brave man, he couldn't help feeling a little scared and embarrassed.
Mei Cheng'an and Chen Wen subconsciously stepped aside and put some distance between themselves and Fan Xian.
The quiet scene lasted only a few breaths before it was broken by the Northern Qi warrior who inexplicably asked about his father. He became angry and embarrassed, pointed at Fan Xian and roared with a red face.
"I want to fight you!!!"
His shout was like a starting gun. The scene instantly became noisy again. A group of Northern Qi warriors pointed at Fan Xian and kept shouting for a duel or something like that. It was extremely overwhelming.
Fan Xian folded his arms and looked at the crowd quietly. Their noise made him feel less embarrassed. Gao Da and Wang Qinian, who were standing on the steps at the entrance of the villa, saw that the leader of the delegation was surrounded. Fearing that something might happen, they quickly squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of Fan Xian.
Mei Cheng'an? He didn't need to be protected. He and Chen Wen were hiding aside and watching the fun. The only target of those angry young men from Northern Qi was Fan Xian.
Wang Qinian glanced at the angry crowd, smiled wryly, and asked in a low voice close to Fan Xian.
"Sir, before they were just clamoring to compete with the delegation, why did you admit your identity? Now, they are all coming for you."
"Forehead…"
Fan Xian cleared his throat and touched his nose.
"I didn't think much about it at the time, I just...well, now that it's like this, what's the point of talking about it? The key right now is how to deal with the current situation."
Wang Qinian said immediately after hearing this.
"I think we have to accept the challenge. If we don't, we will be admitting defeat and lose face and reputation!"
Fan Xian thought about it and made a decision in his heart, but he still subconsciously wanted to ask his fellow villager for his opinion. But when he turned around, he saw that the fellow had distanced himself from him at some point. He was stunned for a moment and suddenly became speechless.
Damn, when disaster strikes, everyone runs away. I’d rather die than let my friends die. This is the way you run, right? You run too fast. Are you a human?
Being measured by Fan Xian's gaze, Chen Wen couldn't help laughing, feeling a little ashamed, while Mei Cheng'an shrugged and spread his hands with a calm look on his face.
Fan Xian rolled his eyes, not wanting to bother with him, and simply turned his head to look at Gaoda and asked loudly.
"Lao Gao, do you want to stretch your muscles?"
At this time, all the Northern Qi warriors fell silent again in order to wait for Fan Xian's decision. Upon hearing this, Gaoda looked around at everyone quietly and suddenly grinned.
"I can't ask for it!"
Fan Xian nodded, pointed at Haoda with his thumb, looked at everyone and spoke loudly.
"Everyone is here now, so I won't spoil your fun. If you want to challenge the delegation, go find him. If you want to challenge me, go find him. You have to defeat him first. Do you understand?"
After waiting for a while and seeing no one objecting, Fan Xian waved his hand.
"Okay, stop crowding here, line up and come one by one."
After saying this, he looked around.
"Old Wang, ask someone to organize them later. Ask them to line up sideways and get them out of the way so they don't block the road. Also, give them license plates or something so they behave properly."
"Yes, my lord."
Wang Qinian responded and went to organize it.
"Come on, come on, don't crowd, follow me..."
Fan Xian looked at Gundam again.
"Let's choose the wide corridor in the middle of the front yard as the venue for the duel. Be careful when you fight. Don't bring disgrace to the reputation of our Qing Kingdom delegation, but don't go too far either. Just stop when you're done."
Gundam patted his chest upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, sir!"
Fan Xian nodded.
"Go."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mei Cheng'an and Chen Wen had already walked back to his side. Gao Da saluted Mei Cheng'an and was about to leave when suddenly a burst of dense footsteps came from the other side of the open space in front of the villa gate.
Several people turned their heads to look and found that another group had come to join in the fun. At the head of the group was a young man in gorgeous clothes, with his nose upturned and walking with a bowed step. The group of people behind him should be his servants judging by their clothes. All of the servants held sticks and had arrogant looks on their faces. It was obvious that they came with bad intentions.
Mei Cheng'an watched with interest. He unexpectedly discovered that the royal guards in charge of escorting the delegation at the gate of the villa had intriguing expressions when they saw the visitor. He thought that they must be acquaintances.
They did not move, and the delegation's guards, which consisted of the Tiger Guards, the Supervisory Council, and Zhao Da, immediately stepped forward to stop them.
Mei Cheng'an waved his hand to signal them to go back. What would be the point of watching if they stopped the people? He wanted to see how this young man from the capital city planned to cause trouble.
With his signal, naturally no one went to stop the group of people. The leading young man walked straight to Mei Chengan, Fan Xian and the others with his servants and stood still.
The young man, who looked young, raised his chin and glanced with disdain at Mei Cheng'an, who was standing in the center with his hands behind his back, and Fan Xian, who was hugging his arms. His voice during the voice change period was no different from that of a duck, and he opened his mouth and spoke.
"Who among you is Fan Xian?"
Fan Xian blinked and looked at him strangely without saying a word. Mei Cheng'an looked at him twice and suddenly smiled, then pointed at Fan Xian.
"he!"
The young man looked at Fan Xian with contempt, walked towards him without saying a word, and punched him when he got in front of him.
His fist was weak and powerless, and it was obvious that he had never practiced martial arts. I don't know what he was thinking, why did he leave the servant alone and insist on doing it himself?
Fan Xian didn't even bother to blink and slapped back without any hesitation. In an instant, the wind from his palm cut through the air like a knife and collided lightly with the fist.
With a scream, the young man quickly took a few steps back and sat down on the ground. After a cry, he began to wail in pain.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much!"
"Young Master!!!" The servants following behind were horrified and rushed forward to help him up, check his injuries and ask about his health.
Even though the young man was shouting loudly, Fan Xian actually didn't use any heavy hands on him at all. After all, the young emperor had just mentioned this matter to the two of them in the palace, and he had also given a guarantee, so he didn't intend to really hurt the boy.
Shaking his head, a hint of disappointment flashed in Fan Xian's eyes, and he turned his head to look at his fellow villager.
"Let's go."
Mei Cheng'an shrugged and said it was no problem. To be honest, he was a little disappointed. The level of the people who came to cause trouble was too low, and people had no interest in watching the fun.
Several people were about to enter the villa when the young man suddenly became crazy for some reason. He probably didn't expect that a scholar who looked very weak in appearance would dare to fight back. He even pushed him to the ground, causing his arms and buttocks to hurt. So he became furious and pushed away the servant who was trying to help him up, pointed at Fan Xian and cursed him.
"Fuck you, do you know who I am? If you dare to push me, you country bumpkins are courting death!"
Upon hearing this, Fan Xian paused, his eyes flickered, but there was no change on his face, still with a faint smile on his face. He suddenly turned around and was about to walk towards the young man.
Mei Chengan raised his hand to block it and said softly.
"Don't be impulsive. It will be hard to end if you make a big fuss. I'll do it."
Others don't know, but he knows that Fan Xian was really angry, just because the kid used the wrong swear word and touched Fan Xian's reverse scale. This may sound childish, but it is the truth.
It didn't matter if the child cursed Fan Xian's ancestors, he wouldn't care. But he couldn't curse his grandmother, sister, and mother in Danzhou, the three most important women to him.
Therefore, Mei Cheng'an was really afraid that he would act without restraint. It was not because he was afraid of offending the people behind the young master, but mainly because he did not want to cause much trouble for the young emperor. After all, people were so polite and kind to them.
Fan Xian looked at him quietly without saying anything or moving.
Mei Cheng'an nodded and walked towards the young man with a smile.
Perhaps it was because he was not the one who took action just now, or perhaps it was because he had a very friendly smile, or perhaps it was because he was alone. In any case, the servants beside the young man were somewhat nervous about his actions, but when they saw that he only gently helped their young master up, they thought that this man should be the companion of the leader of the delegation. They were afraid of offending their young master and came to apologize on behalf of the leader, so they did not take it too seriously and just kept cursing and shouting something.
Only two sounds of joints cracking were heard almost simultaneously, followed by a muffled sound. The shrill screams suddenly stopped and became unclear, and countless exclamations were heard all around.
Since the Northern Qi Imperial Guards dared not to interfere, this young man's family must be from a very powerful and influential family in the capital city. It should be very measured to only cut off his two wrists and break his teeth. This way, we can also give an explanation to the little emperor.
Thinking this in his mind, Mei Cheng'an loosened his hand, allowing the young man with a mouth full of broken teeth and blood uncontrollably flowing out of the corners of his mouth to fall to the ground again. He nodded and turned to leave.
Looking at his returning fellow villager, Fan Xian had a very strange expression on his face.
Mei Chengan opened his mouth to persuade.
"That's enough. We can't go too far and make things difficult for Haitang and the little emperor."
Upon hearing this, Fan Xian's expression became even more strange. He opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. After a long time, he spoke softly.
"Actually, I originally only wanted to cripple one of his wrists..."
"?"
Upon hearing this, the smile on Mei Chengan's face suddenly froze.
Mei Chengan: “…”
Fan Xian: "..."
Gao Da and Chen Wen who were listening: "..."
After being speechless for a long time, Mei Chengan finally uttered a sentence.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Fan Xian: "..."
the other side.
Mei Cheng'an had been gone for a long time before the stunned and unbelievable servants finally reacted and surrounded the young man again.
This group of people looked at their young master's wrists hanging limply, tears and snot running down his face, mixed with blood and broken teeth from his mouth, wailing indistinctly. It was a horrible sight. These people's temples began to swell frequently, their hearts were pounding, and they were angry and afraid at the moment.
What made them angry was that the man broke their young master's wrists and smashed his teeth right in front of them. What made them afraid was that they failed to protect their young master and they didn't know how to explain to the head of the family when they returned.
Everyone stood up, determined to kill the two people who had harmed the young master in order to get a lighter sentence.
Seeing that things were about to get out of hand, the Imperial Guards who had been pretending to be cowards quickly stepped forward, stopped the angry servants, and kept persuading them. Although those people did not attack the Imperial Guards, they continued to curse and swear, saying things like "barbarians" and "son of a bitch".
Mei Cheng'an grabbed a soldier of the Imperial Guard who was passing by him and was about to go to reinforce him, pointed over there and asked.
"Whose kid is that?"
The Royal Guard soldier glanced over there and whispered.
"That's the son of the Marquis of Chang'an."
Mei Cheng'an frowned as he let the soldier go.
"Marquis Chang'an? Sounds so familiar?"
Fan Xian nodded. He felt the same way and thought about it.
"It can't be... Brother Wei Hua, right? That's not good..."
Mei Chengan waved his hand to interrupt him.
"What's the connection, old man Wei Hua, the Marquis of Changning!"
"Oh, oh, I made a mistake, hiss~ Marquis Chang'an..."
Fan Xian stroked his chin and frowned as he pondered. Thinking that there was only one character difference between Marquis Chang'an and Marquis Changning, he suddenly had an idea.
"Damn! Could he be the Queen Mother's brother? Yes, yes, I remember now. After the national war was lost, the man who was stripped of his position and locked up at home to reflect on his mistakes seemed to be called Marquis Chang'an!"
Mei Cheng'an also remembered it at this time, and suddenly laughed, not knowing what he was thinking about.
"So, you guessed it right. Hey, he really is Wei Hua's younger brother. Not a younger brother but a cousin!"
Fan Xian was also happy when he heard it.
"Does it mean that the flood washed away half of the Dragon King's temple gate?"
"Hahaha."
The two were so bold that even though they knew that this man was the nephew of the Queen Mother of Northern Qi, they were not panicked at all and were even in the mood to joke.
Chen Wen on the side spoke.
"The Marquis of Chang'an was deprived of his power due to his defeat in the war, but the Queen Mother of Northern Qi has recently issued an edict to reinstate him. It seems that he has regained his former arrogance. This young master must have seen that everyone in the capital wanted to come to the envoys to cause trouble, so he took the opportunity to avenge his father."
"Stupid little brat!"
Fan Xian sneered and shook his head. He had no interest in looking over there any longer. He turned around and was about to climb the steps and enter the villa.
"You want to leave after beating someone up? It won't be that easy!"
A servant behind him shouted angrily.
"You are so bold as to dare to hurt our young master!"
The situation, which had been barely under control, showed signs of getting out of control again because of this shout and became noisy again.
The commander of the Imperial Guards was suddenly in a state of headache when he saw that the situation he had finally controlled was about to collapse. He had never expected that Fan Xian and Mei Cheng'an would not even say a word of polite words and wanted to go straight into the mansion. It was obviously very unreasonable and they did not take everyone present seriously. The commander could not help but feel angry and thought that you Nanqing people are too arrogant.
Fan Xian turned around slowly and looked around, his eyes passing over those Northern Qi warriors who were bent on competing to win glory for their country and were now just watching the show. They obviously had no intention of helping the dandy young man. Finally, he fixed his eyes on those Northern Qi people who were still clamoring in the arena, stretched out his hand and pressed them down, and spoke loudly after the scene calmed down a little.
"Everyone, so many eyes saw it. Your young master openly attacked me in broad daylight. I was panicked and lost my temper. This is understandable. As for his injury, someone will go to your house to deliver the medical expenses later. Isn't that the end of it? Why are you arguing? Really!"
Although he said this, what he was thinking in his heart was whether he should pay for the medical expenses himself or use the public account, and what excuse he should use.
After beating someone up, he just paid some medical expenses. This is the typical behavior of a dandy and arrogant rich second-generation. The problem is that Fan Xian is the chief envoy of the diplomatic corps and a high-ranking official, while the young master of the marquis's mansion who was injured by him and collapsed on the ground groaning is the authentic Northern Qi dandy. Isn't this going against the Tian Gang? How could the crowd agree to it? The shouting seemed even more intense than before, and the intensity of the shoving and shoving with the imperial guards also increased a lot. It was obvious that they were very angry.
Mei Cheng'an stood with his hands behind his back, watching the noise over there with a smile. After thinking for a moment, he called Wang Qinian over and whispered a few words in his ear.
A hint of surprise flashed across Wang Qinian's eyes, and then he quietly entered the inner courtyard. A moment later, the guards of the delegation standing outside the door also entered the courtyard one by one without making a sound.
Fan Xian noticed the movement around him and glanced at his fellow villager. Mei Cheng'an gave him a look full of smiles. Fan Xian's eyes rolled and the corners of his mouth curled up. Although he didn't know what specific arrangements his fellow villager had made, from his eyes, it was obvious that he was planning to do something for fun. The scene that followed was obviously going to become more interesting.
He couldn't think too much, as he still had things to deal with. Fan Xian put his thoughts aside, raised his eyebrows, and spoke in a low voice to the commander of the Imperial Guards at the foot of the stone steps.
"Commander Wei, do you want to watch the envoys fight with the people of Northern Qi and have another melee between the two countries?"
The commander surnamed Wei felt a chill in his heart when he heard this. Although he knew that things would not develop so outrageously, if the chief and deputy envoys of Qing State were really beaten up by the crowd and it caused a diplomatic incident, he would be held accountable. Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and personally went out to call for people to stop the people from Chang'an Houwei Mansion from entering the door at all costs.
Fan Xian moved closer to Mei Cheng'an and whispered.
"How to say?"
Mei Cheng'an turned and walked towards the yard.
"Go inside first, I'll tell you on the way."
"Oh."
After a few steps, the two entered the yard, and then the gate closed.
When they disappeared, not only did the servants of the Chang'an Marquis's Mansion become more angry and cursed, but even the Northern Qi warriors who had been queuing up and watching the show were unhappy. "I have queued up obediently as you said, what do you mean by closing the door? Are you still going to compete?"
For a moment, shouting, cursing, and questioning mixed together and turned into sharp arrows, and Fan Xian's ancestors pitifully served as targets.
……
(End of this chapter)
