A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 181 Prime Minister Lu’s Borrowing of Troops Failed

Zhongshan State, located to the northwest of Lang State, is a small country with simple and honest people who abide by the law. It is also protected by a powerful country like Lang State. Except for occasional invasions by Rongdi, there have been few wars. In addition, the weather has been good in the past two years, so the people of Zhongshan can live and work in peace.

A team of carriages was running on the hilly road in Zhongshan. Lu Xiang, the prime minister of Lang State, was sitting in the carriage, looking at the mountains in the distance, but he was still worried about the future of Lang State. In order to prevent Emperor Lang from borrowing troops from Xiyue State, he had to brave the scorching sun and travel day and night to Zhongshan State at an old age. Although he knew that the hope of borrowing troops was slim, it was better than sitting at home and watching the Xiyue State army enter the country.

"Sir, here we are."

The voice of the guard outside the car suddenly sounded, and Lu Xiang withdrew his thoughts. The water outside the car was rushing, and the sound was audible.

The capital of Zhongshan State, Gucheng, is known as a water city. It is surrounded by rivers several meters wide on all sides. There are only two gates in the city, in the north and south, and people have to take ferries to enter and exit.

After being reminded by the guards, Lu Xiang in the carriage still did not move. He just glanced out the window and saw that Prime Minister Wen Boan was not in the team that came out to greet him from Zhongshan Kingdom. He immediately frowned, snorted, and continued to sit in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest.

The guards outside the car saw that the prime minister did not give any instructions and was not in a hurry to get off the car. Although they were confused, they did not dare to say anything.

In the hot summer, although the carriage was shaded by trees, it could not stop the heat waves from the ground. The guards protecting the carriage were sweating profusely even under the shade of the trees, and the welcoming team waiting in the scorching sun in front were like ants on a hot pan, and were suffering.

Wu Bai, the Minister of Rites of Zhongshan State, was also very nervous when he saw that the Prime Minister of Lang State had not yet gotten off the carriage. In addition, he was almost dizzy due to the heat, so he did not care about etiquette. He walked quickly to the carriage, wiped the sweat off his face, and then bowed respectfully to the carriage, saying with a smile: "I am Wu Bai, the Minister of Rites of Zhongshan State, and I pay my respects to Prime Minister Lu."

"Ahem, why doesn't your country's Prime Minister Wen come out to greet us?" The carriage was stuffy and hot, and Lu Xiang was not much better. However, this old man had always been conservative and respectful of etiquette. He looked like he was willing to suffer for the sake of face. He thought that when he, the Prime Minister of Lang State, came to visit his Zhongshan State, the other party sent an official of lower rank than himself out of the city to greet him. Didn't this mean that he, the Prime Minister of Lang State, was not serious?

"Please forgive me, Prime Minister Lu. He has been suffering from the heat recently and is recuperating in his bedchamber. I am afraid that my sick body will disturb Prime Minister Lu who has come from afar, so I ordered your humble servant to come and greet you. I hope you will forgive me if I have not been considerate enough." When Wu Bai, the Minister of Rites of Zhongshan State, heard that Prime Minister Lu was sitting in the carriage and refused to come out because of this, he felt helpless and could not help but feel a little contempt. Emperor Lang is now almost desperate because of King Xian. Prime Minister Lu, you have traveled thousands of miles to come to Zhongshan State to ask for something from us, so why do you have to put on the airs of a prime minister of a great country?

"So it is Prime Minister Wen who is ill. I understand that. But you, the Minister of Rites, should have taken the initiative to explain the reason just now, so that I would not have misunderstood and wasted so much time." Seeing that Zhongshan Kingdom was not deliberately neglecting him, Lu Xiang felt relieved, but for the sake of face, he scolded Wu Bai outside the car.

Although Wu Bai was unhappy in his heart, he apologized repeatedly and flattered Lu Xiang. He finally coaxed Lu Xiang out of the car and boarded the boat to enter the ancient city together.

Knowing that Prime Minister Lu was pedantic and old-fashioned and might be difficult to deal with, Wu Bai did not dare to slack off at all and carefully led Prime Minister Lu to the embassy.

"Sir Wu, I am pressed for time and have no time to rest in the embassy. You must take me to see your king immediately." When Lu Xiang saw that he was taken to the embassy, ​​he was anxious and angry. He immediately frowned and said to Wu Baiming.

"Prime Minister Lu, please be patient. The king went to inspect the northern border today and has not returned yet. You can rest here first..." Although Wu Bai was speechless, he still had to patiently comfort Lu Xiang. The prime minister of Lang State had just been reluctant to get off the car outside the city for a long time. So he was in a hurry now?

"Since the king is not here, is the prince in the city?" Lu Xiang asked anxiously before Wu Bai finished speaking. Emperor Lang only gave him three days, and he traveled for a day and a night. If he could not meet the king or the prince of Zhongshan today, it would be too late.

"Prime Minister, please wait a moment. I will go and report to the Crown Prince." Seeing that Prime Minister Lu was so anxious, Wu Bai naturally did not dare to delay for even a moment. After bowing to the other party, he hurried away.

At this time in the Zhongshan Palace, the young Crown Prince Ji Jin and Prince Zhuang were in the imperial study, both with sad looks on their faces.

"Uncle, Prime Minister Lu has already entered the old city, but we have just received a letter from King Xian. What should we do?" Crown Prince Ji Jin paced back and forth in front of Prince Zhuang, almost becoming anxious and frustrated.

The ruler of Zhongshan was already anxious when he learned that the prime minister of Lang was coming to visit. Today he received another letter from King Xian trying to win him over, which made the ruler even more torn. So he had to go out to avoid Prime Minister Lu under the pretext of inspecting the northern border and passed this hot potato to his son.

"Yes, the civil war in Lang has not yet been decided, and the new dynasty of Lang is yet to be established. Neither side can be offended easily. It is easy to deal with Prince Xian's letter, but Prime Minister Lu is already in my Zhongshan country, and he comes to borrow troops. I am afraid it will be difficult to deal with him." Prince Zhuang sat aside, stroking his beard, shaking his head and sighing.

"Uncle, Prime Minister Lu is a veteran of two dynasties, and I heard that he is a man of high moral character and a man who understands the big picture. He shouldn't make things too difficult for our Zhongshan Kingdom, right?" Crown Prince Ji Jin's eyes suddenly lit up as if he thought of something, and he sat down next to his uncle and continued.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince means to throw our problem directly to Prime Minister Lu?"

"Alas, this is the only solution. Instead of rejecting Prime Minister Lu directly, we might as well let Prime Minister Lu give up the idea of ​​borrowing troops." Crown Prince Ji Jin looked out the window and sighed. Zhongshan Kingdom was a weak small country that had always been law-abiding and never dared to get involved in disputes among other countries. Moreover, the current civil strife in Lang Kingdom was just Lang Kingdom's internal affairs for their neighboring countries. It was really inconvenient for Zhongshan Kingdom and it did not dare to intervene.

While the two were talking, the Minister of Rites Wu Bo came to report. Crown Prince Ji Jin did not hesitate and went to the embassy with Wu Bo, taking the letter written by King Xian to Zhongshan State.

Lu Xiang had already lost all hope before he even read the content of the letter. He had not expected that King Xian would act so quickly and even start to win over neighboring countries. He already had no hope. He wondered whether Master Shangguan could successfully borrow troops from the Xuanmeng Kingdom.