Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 250: Isn’t Lord Xuande looking for me?
A few days later, Sun Qian politely declined the farewell offered by the officials of Jingzhou, but Kuai Liang insisted on seeing Liu Biao off for several miles, and Sun Qian had no choice but to agree.

The two men walked and talked, and did not mention the affairs of Nanyang anymore. They just talked briefly about the developments in Hebei.

Kuai Liang could only pretend that he didn't hear what Sun Gongyou said before, and not tell anyone, otherwise Jingzhou would become even more chaotic.

The wilderness road was in sight, the rustling autumn wind blew up the dead leaves, and the two bowed to say goodbye. Sun Qian bowed and said with a smile: "The envoy often said that after sending you a thousand miles, we must part ways. The mountains are high and the waters are long, and we will meet again one day. Zirou has sent Qian for several miles, and her kindness has been shown. Go back quickly, perhaps we will have the opportunity to work together someday."

Upon hearing this, Kuai Liang also smiled and said, "Kuai has received favors from the Han family, and has always served the Han family with no intention of betraying them, so we helped Jing Shenggong to pacify Jingzhou and appease the people. We would rather die than follow Liu."

Sun Qian immediately cupped his hands and said solemnly: "Lord Xuande will surely restore the Han dynasty, just as Emperor Guangwu pacified Wang Lang, swept Hebei to eliminate the remnants of the Han dynasty and thoroughly supported the world. By then, you can wait for the royal teacher in Jingbei."

Kuai Liang smiled and returned the greeting, saying: "May the Han Dynasty forever bring peace to the four seas!"

"Zi Rou, goodbye!"

"Gongyou, walk slowly."

After the two men said goodbye to each other, Sun Qian and his entourage continued to walk towards the countryside west of Xiangyang City, about twenty miles away.

Led by the locals, they wandered around and finally arrived at the gate of a courtyard house with green tiles and white walls. Sun Qian first tidied up his clothes and appearance, and then knocked on the wooden door himself.

I heard a question coming from the courtyard: "Who is standing outside the door?"

Sun Qian took a step forward, cupped his hands and said, "I am the governor of Qing, Yan, and Xu provinces of the Han Dynasty..."

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly heard a "clang" coming from the courtyard with green tiles and white walls, as if something was hit.

Sun Qian couldn't help coughing and quickly continued, "He will also serve as the governor of Yingchuan..."

The hurried footsteps in the courtyard were approaching the wooden door. Sun Qian had just come to the point. He said, "...I, Sun Qian, the Gongcao official under the command of Envoy Liu, come to pay my respects..."

"Bang!" The wooden door was suddenly opened by a middle-aged scholar with a turban on his head and a three-pronged beard.

The middle-aged scholar still had a look of shock on his face, as if there were two expressions on his face.

He looked at Sun Qian with a subtle expression, cupped his hands and asked tentatively: "In other words, you are Sun Gongyou, the Gongcao of Yingchuan, and not Lord Xuande of Qingzhou?"

"It is Sun Gongyou from Beihai."

Sun Qian also quickly returned the greeting and said.

The middle-aged scholar couldn't help but sigh softly, looked down at his bare feet, and then covered the painful spot where he had hit the desk when he stood up too quickly.

After taking a deep breath, he bowed to Sun Qian again and introduced, "Zhuge Xuan from Langya in Xuzhou greets Gongcao Sun. I wonder why the official is here today to visit you?"

After saying that, Zhuge Xuan couldn't help but think in his heart that Sun Gongyou from Beihai had something to say, and he couldn't finish it in one breath...

This introduction reminded him of what Ziyu said in his letter about Lord Xuande, who was also so respectful and courteous when he went to visit Lu Zijing, a strategic figure in Dongcheng County, Xuzhou.

This incident became a topic of interest among the Xuzhou gentry, making people envious. From then on, many scholars would clean their doors every day, hoping that Lord Xuande would come to them in person to seek talents, and then open their hearts to them, have long conversations, and create a beautiful story about the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

Therefore, when he suddenly heard such a familiar introduction, even though he was in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Zhuge Xuan was filled with joy and delight. He swept away the decadence of his defeat in Yuzhang County and jumped up from the bed in an instant. Even though he hit his calf, he did not feel any pain and rushed out the door barefoot.

The result was disappointing.

Fortunately, years of cultivation of his character allowed him to suppress his inner disappointment and still greet distant guests with a smile.

Sun Qian naturally saw Zhuge Xuan pretending to be indifferent and covering his legs, and also saw the other party greeting him barefoot, and thought that he had been misunderstood.

Sun Qian hastily apologized and bowed, saying, "I was careless for a moment, and I forgot to forgive you, Lord Zhuge. However, I did come to visit you on the orders of Lord Xuande." Zhuge Xuan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he perked up and asked, "Have you ever heard of the name of Zhuge Xuan of Langya, Lord Xuande?"

Now that you said that, my legs don't hurt anymore.

Sun Qian bowed and smiled, "Your Excellency has heard of Zhuge's name for a long time. A few years ago, I wrote to you to invite you to serve in Yanzhou. Unfortunately, you have already served Yuan Shu and crossed the Yangtze River. When the letter was returned, you were also deeply regretful."

"Is there such a thing? Lord Xuande wants to employ me?"

When Zhuge Xuan heard this, he was suddenly shocked.

Ziyu was employed by Lord Xuande in Xuzhou last year, and was later transferred to Yanzhou with an important position. Why didn't he ever mention this to me?

I'm his uncle, but he actually hid this from me.

Zhuge Xuan was shocked and stunned, but now was not the time to settle the score with Zhuge Ziyu, so he decided to welcome the distinguished guest first.

After the two of them sat down on the bed, Zhuge Xuan asked the servants to quickly set up the iron cauldron and pile up firewood to boil water.

Then he turned sideways, bowed his hands apologetically and smiled, "The official is from Beihai, Qingzhou, which is also close to Langya, Xuzhou, so we can be said to be half from the same hometown. The mellow fragrance of Qingzhou tea is well-known throughout the world. After Xuan resigned as the governor of Yuzhang, he was financially short of money and could not afford to buy Qingzhou tea."

"I can only entertain the senior officials with Jingzhou tea. I hope you won't mind."

Tea soup is also popular in Jingzhou, Xiangyang and other places, but the method of making it is completely different from that in Qingzhou.
First, the tea leaves are made into tea cakes, then roasted into red, ground into fine powder, boiled in water, and condiments such as green onions and ginger are added before drinking.

Since Sun Qian was sent as an envoy to Jingzhou, Liu Biao used to entertain him with tea produced in Qingzhou, which was also brewed.

Hearing Zhuge Xuan talking about Xiangyang tea soup, Sun Qian was a little curious. He waved his hand and said with a smile: "That's exactly what I want. You can try the mellow and rich aroma of Jingzhou tea."

Unexpectedly, when the servant brought Jiang Gui Yuxin's tea, Sun Qian regretted what he said immediately when he saw the ginger, orange and other crumbs floating on the soup.

I wanted to open my mouth, but I was hesitant.

But at this time Zhuge Xuan had already picked up his bowl of tea with a lot of condiments, rolled up his sleeves, raised his hand and smiled and invited him to drink with him.

In order not to disappoint the host.

Sun Qian had no choice but to grit his teeth, shielding Zhuge Xuan's gaze with his left long sleeve, and holding the tea in his right hand, forcing himself to finish it as if he wanted to vomit.

Facing the other party's expectant gaze, he reluctantly gave a thumbs up and praised: "This is really good tea. It instantly makes people feel refreshed and clears away the fatigue from the journey since leaving Xiangyang."

"Oh..." Zhuge Xuan was quite surprised and immediately said, "If that's the case, then let the servants serve a few more bowls to the chief official?"

"No, no, drinking too much of this tea is not good for you. Besides, I have something important to do. I am here on orders from Lord Xuande to visit Zhuge Liang, the younger brother of Zhuge Jin, with a letter. I wonder if he is here now?"

Zhuge Xuan never thought that Liu Shijun actually came to see the fifteen-year-old Zhuge Liang.

However, he still told the truth, bowed and apologized, "Sir, it is really unfortunate that Kong Ming took his servants to visit Lord Pang De yesterday, and I don't know when he will return home."

Sun Qian was also stunned. He didn't expect that the task assigned to him by the envoy would be in vain.

He had to hurry back to report and deal with many government affairs in Yingchuan. He had no time to wait here. Moreover, staying here for too long would arouse suspicion among the Jingzhou gentry and Liu Biao and others.

After thinking for a moment, he could only leave the letter behind for the time being. Anyway, the envoy had said that as long as Zhuge Liang was willing to write back, that would be enough.

However, Sun Qian still carefully asked about Zhuge Kongming's recent situation and his current level of intelligence, so as to decide whether some of the letters should be kept.

(End of this chapter)