Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"Let him in."

As Lu Bu spoke, he looked at Jiang Jing and Tao Zongwang and said jokingly, "Qiao Lie never comes to visit you for no reason. I wonder what trouble he will cause today."

Jiang Jing glanced at Tao Zongwang, and when he saw his brother nodded, he said, "We two have taken note of what the king has told us to do. Doctor Qiao must have come here to discuss something important. So we will take our leave."

Tao Zongwang looked at Jiang Jing and imitated him by bowing his hands upwards.

Lu Bu naturally agreed and watched the two subordinates leave. Soon, Qiao Lie, wearing official uniform and a Jinxian crown, strode in and said, "Your Majesty, I, Qiao Lie, greet you."

"You are so polite." Lu Bu shook his head and motioned him to get up: "There is no outsider here."

"Etiquette cannot be abolished." Qiao Lie smiled and stood up straight: "Besides, I don't want to be scolded by Doctor Yang."

"Why are you all afraid of Doctor Yang?" Lu Bu laughed dumbly: "Wang Zheng is the same."

Qiao Lie raised his head and laughed: "Maybe Doctor Yang is a righteous and dignified person, so I can't help but admire him."

"You are such a chatterbox. Tell me, what is the difficulty that brought you here this time?"

Qiao Lie stopped smiling and said, "Someone from the Song Kingdom in the south came here, saying that they are looking for the Ministry of Rites. They may be envoys. However, we have never received such news before, nor have we exchanged any documents. So I sent someone to find out the details of these people."

"Really?" Lu Bu looked a little surprised. He looked at the young man standing over there and asked, "Why did the Song people send an envoy?" He raised his hand and touched his neatly trimmed beard. "It's been a while since we left Song..." He suddenly put down his hand and thought, "Could it be that they want to claim back the losses in Jingdong Road?"

"..."

Qiao Lie opened his mouth but said nothing.

"It's just a joke."

Lu Bu smiled, as if he was very happy about the occasional childishness. He walked to the table and sat down: "Since we don't know why the Song people are here, we should wait! I think... Yang Qing should come."

Qiao Lie agreed with him, and then he stayed here with Lu Bu to wait for Yang Pu. In just a meal's time, the well-dressed doctor of the Ministry of Rites jumped off his horse in front of the palace, and then ran in quickly with his skirt lifted. He slowed down in front of the study door, smoothed his clothes that were wrinkled from running, adjusted the Jinxian crown on his head, walked into the study, and bowed respectfully to Lu Bu: "Your Majesty, I, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, Yang Pu, greet you."

Lu Bu called the man and breathed a sigh of relief: "Yang Qing, I was waiting for you. I didn't expect you to come so soon."

Yang Pu was startled, then he saw Qiao Lie, then he understood, he bowed to Qiao Lie, and then he said to Lu Bu: "I am terrified, some envoys from Song came to the door, saying they wanted to see the king..." He paused, seeing that the other party's expression had not changed, and continued: "But I think the Song people are arrogant, although their words are gentle, they are condescending, and they even issued an edict to the king as a suzerain country. I used words to calm them down and let them stay in the post house."

Lu Bu pursed his lips.

Qiao Lie snorted, "Zhao is so arrogant. If he hadn't set his sights on Liaodong, it's unclear whether he could have maintained his position in Bianliang City today."

Yang Pu bowed and said, "I wonder if the king wants to see these envoys? If not, I will go back and send them away."

"..."

The noise in the room died down. Qiao Lie and Yang Pu looked at the expressionless Lu Bu. There seemed to be a pressure in the air, making the two feel a little breathless. After a while, a light laugh from the other side made them feel a lot lighter.

"... Let's meet him." Lu Bu leaned back and said, "I have come all this way here. I am also curious about what the Song Kingdom wants to do. As for the imperial edict..." He narrowed his gleaming tiger eyes and said, "It is just an insult to me. I can bear it."

Yang Pu lowered his head and squeezed out a sentence after a while: "...the master humiliates the minister and the minister dies."

Qiao Lie also nodded vigorously.

"I know what Yang Qing and Qiao Qing are thinking." Lu Bu straightened his body and clasped his hands in front of his abdomen. "If you don't want to be humiliated, you should work hard to improve yourself. Remember today's shame, and we will report it to the king and ministers of Song another day." "Yes."

"Then let's do this, let..."

While Lu Bu was speaking, Qiao Lie shouted "Your Majesty!", then stopped talking and looked at him.

"I think we can meet these Song envoys later." Qiao Lie put down his hand, his eyes changing: "My people are on their way to investigate their details, and it will take some time. After all, why they came here without any news this time makes people wonder."

Yang Pu was moved: "I have checked the documents and seals they brought, and they don't seem to be forged."

Qiao Lie nodded: "That's even more suspicious."

"Then let's delay it for a few days." Lu Bu frowned: "Is ten days enough?"

"enough."

"In that case, we will summon these envoys in ten days. You two can go down if you have nothing else to do."

"Yes, I will retire."

Qiao Lie and Yang Pu bowed to Lu Bu and then left. Lu Bu was left alone sitting behind the table, leaning against the back of his chair with his head raised. After a while, a chuckle came from the room: "Oh, imperial edict... you are not my emperor..."

……

The sky was bright with daylight. After a night's rest, Ma Zheng got up from his bed, washed up, and hurriedly had breakfast. He talked to everyone in the inn for a while, telling them not to cause trouble. Then he took two guards and documents and went straight to the Ministry of Rites.

When he arrived, Yang Pu had been handling official business for a while. Seeing him come in, he smiled and said, "Why didn't Envoy Ma take a rest in the embassy? Why did you come so early?"

Ma Zheng was anxious, but he still wanted to be polite. He bowed and asked, "Doctor Yang, when can His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi see us?"

"This is a bit unfortunate." Yang Pu stood up with a smile, motioned Ma Zheng to sit aside, and then said: "The king has been busy with government affairs these days, I'm afraid you will have to wait for two days."

Ma Zheng frowned, cupped his hands and said, "Doctor, this matter is of great importance. I am not rushing you, but this matter is also beneficial to your country."

"Then could you please tell me what the matter is?"

Ma Zheng shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't believe Doctor Yang, but when I came here, the emperor ordered me to tell your king first, so I naturally dare not disobey the emperor's order."

Yang Pu straightened up and said, "Since your emperor has issued an order, it is not appropriate for me to ask any more questions. However, Your Majesty is really busy and has to go to the army for a few days. As you know, Qi is a newly established country and has many affairs to attend to. I hope you will forgive me."

Ma Zheng was helpless: "In that case, I will just wait."

He stood up to leave and repeated, "If His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is free, please let me know."

"Sure, sure, sure." Yang Pu stood up with a smile, and stretched out his hand to lead the way: "I will escort you out."

"Thank you."

After saying thank you, Ma Zheng had to leave first. (End of this chapter)