The two armies were about to go to war, but Sun Wen came with Jiang Pengji's letter. No one could figure out his true intentions.
Before Nie Liang summoned Sun Wen, he had Fan Chen entertain Sun Wen and secretly sound him out to find out Sun Wen's true intentions.
Fan Chen?
Sun Wen's heart skipped a beat when he heard the surname.
He said, "I see that you are graceful and charming. You must be from an ordinary family. May I make a bold guess that you are from the Fan family of Liyang? "
Zhongzhao had 10 prefectures and 33 counties. The land was vast and rich. Liyang was a county under the jurisdiction of Xun Prefecture. It was a fertile land of fish and rice.
Because of the prevalence of private schools, Zhongzhao produced many distinguished people who left their names in history.
Although the Fan family could not be compared to the Nie family, it was still one of the top gentry families in Zhongzhao.
Sun Wen knew Fan Chen's surname when he heard it.
He had left Zhongzhao earlier. Fan Chen's name had not spread out of Xun Prefecture, so Sun Wen had never heard of him.
Fan Chen's eyes were filled with surprise. He smiled and said, "You have sharp eyes. I am indeed from the Fan family of Liyang. The teacher spoke with a Bianzhou accent. I didn't believe it when I heard that you were from Zhongzhao, but now I do. "
Sun Wen smiled. "Instead of saying that my eyes are sharp, I should say that you have sharp ears. You guessed it right away."
He had lived in Bei Prefecture (Northern Borderline) for many years. His accent had changed due to the local influence. He did not expect Fan Chen to be able to recognize it.
Fan Chen was very hospitable. He specially sent a chef to make local delicacies in Bianzhou. Even Sun Wen's temporary tent was decorated according to the local style. If not for the tense relationship between the two armies, Sun Wen would have given Fan Chen a five-star rating. He was meticulous in his work.
In a familiar environment, people could not help but let their guard down, especially when they were facing people who had a good impression of them.
Fan Chen and Sun Wen chatted about the past in Zhongzhao. They were very congenial. No matter what Sun Wen said, Fan Chen could reply.
Not long after, their relationship had taken a big step closer.
To outsiders, Sun Wen and Fan Chen seemed like a pair of like-minded friends. They talked to each other happily.
Only the people involved knew that they were using words as a weapon. They had exchanged dozens of exchanges and were constantly on guard against language traps set by the other party.
If he wasn't careful, he might be tricked by the other party.
The two of them were chatting happily when a soldier's voice came from outside the tent. Nie Liang summoned Sun Wen.
Sun Wen and Fan Chen modestly thanked each other and left the tent side by side.
The flags outside fluttered in the wind, and the flags with the word "Nie" on them looked like burning clouds full of vigor.
Three ears represented Nie, and the Nie on the flag was written in seal script. It looked simple and unadorned. In Zhongzhao, this surname was even higher than that of the royal family. Even the illiterate commoners knew what this pattern meant. As someone from Bian Province, Sun Wen naturally knew of the Nie Clan.
Sun Wen looked at the flag, his eyes like a bottomless abyss. He smiled and said to Fan Chen, who was next to him.
"Speaking of which, this old man and the Nie Clan have an indissoluble bond."
Fan Chen nodded and pretended to be listening attentively.
Sun Wen said, "When I was young, my talent was poor. I was always a step behind others in everything I learned. After I reached my twenties, I accomplished nothing. Only when he was middle-aged did he manage to become a lowly official. That year, I thought I had some ability and recommended myself to the Nie Clan as a Foreign Official … "
Of course, Fan Chen didn't know this history, but he wasn't surprised.
Since Sun Wen was from Bian Province and came from a poor family, his only way out was to learn from the Nie Clan and rely on them.
What he felt was a pity was that Sun Wen wasn't recruited by the Nie Clan. Instead, he went all the way to Dongqing and became an advisor to the enemy.
Fan Chen let out a sigh of pity and subtly changed the topic.
Without a doubt, Sun Wen was a talent. If he wasn't a talent, he wouldn't have been able to play the Northern Borderline around. This was an indisputable fact.
Such a talent had recommended himself to the Nie Clan as a Foreign Official, but the Nie Clan didn't recruit him. It was a loss.
Fan Chen couldn't say that Sun Wen wasn't talented enough, but he also couldn't say that the Nie Clan had eyes but couldn't see and mistook pearls for fish eyes.
He could only express his pity from the Nie Clan's point of view. At the same time, he affirmed Sun Wen's talent to save face for both parties.
Fan Chen was very good with words, and his words were very soothing.
Sun Wen curled his lips. His calm eyes carried a hint of coldness. His smile didn't reach his eyes, and it gave people the illusion that he was smiling hypocritically.
In reality, Sun Wen was recruited after he recommended himself to the Nie Clan. However, he was old and didn't have any outstanding achievements in the first half of his life, so no one thought highly of him. After Sun Wen joined the Nie Clan, he was still a lowly official with no sense of existence. He had no hope of making a name for himself.
A year later, Sun Wen was discouraged. Even if he didn't go to the roll call for half a month, no one would mention him.
Not long after, his only son, Sun Lie, offended a direct descendant of the Nie Clan at a gathering.
That person was very arrogant, ruthless, and domineering.
Just because Sun Lie won first place and made him lose face, he actually sent people to break Sun Lie's legs.
Not only that, he even used his connections to send Sun Lie to the border on a groundless charge.
Sun Wen's family wasn't well-off, but Sun Lie was also his pampered son. How could he endure such hardships? He caught a cold on the way and died early.
His wife and daughter-in-law couldn't take the blow and died one after another …
Of the five people in the family, three were suddenly lost. Only Sun Wen and his young grandson were left to depend on each other.
Sun Wen was worried that the Nie Clan would continue to persecute them and had no choice but to leave Zhongzhao with his grandson, Lan Lan. They begged along the way and wandered from place to place.
Who would have thought that Sun Wen, who was like a stray dog a few years ago, was now treated well by the Nie Clan as an emissary?
His gaze fell on the marshal's flag outside the marshal's tent. His slightly dry eyes were filled with a bit of coldness.
"Emissary, please."
Sun Wen was deep in thought when he heard Fan Chen's words. He came back to his senses and nodded with a smile as he entered the tent.
Nie Liang sat in the main seat. Even though the light in the tent wasn't very bright, Sun Wen could see that he was a man of great bearing.
This person was dignified, but in Sun Wen's view, Nie Liang was more like a scholar who recited poems and talked cheerfully with others. He wasn't a butcher or overlord who fought for supremacy and ate raw meat. After a quick glance, Sun Wen withdrew his gaze and bowed, revealing his identity in a neither servile nor overbearing manner.
The two of them were separated by a distance of six zhang. The atmosphere wasn't right, so Sun Wen couldn't carelessly approach and take a look at Nie Liang's appearance.
"This lowly one is Sun Wen. I've come on the orders of my master to inquire about a matter."
There were many people in the tent, but it wasn't crowded or noisy. Nie Liang's voice wasn't loud, so Sun Wen could hear him clearly.
"What is it?" Nie Liang asked.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
