Compared to the two prefectures where the smoke of war was imminent, Lingzhou, which was the backyard of Northern Liang, still had many handsome men and beautiful women going for a walk in the spring. Many young children in the city were happily flying kites, and the children of the wealthy would string colorful lanterns on the kite string. For example, near their courtyard, there were no less than ten kites flying in the sky. The children's laughter unknowingly diluted the tense atmosphere after the two groups of people met. However, Xu Fengnian's unexpected opening speech seemed to spoil the mood a bit. As the most beautiful woman in Western Shu in the past twenty years, Xie Xie of the Spring Invitation Cottage had entered the Rouge Review at the age of fourteen. She was known for her skin as white as mutton fat jade and her hands as soft as lotus buds. Ten years later, she won the Rouge Review for a second time. Although her real age was twenty-six, it was not an exaggeration to say that she was a sixteen year old beauty. Xie Xie's figure was like most women in Shu. She was thin and delicate with an extremely thin waist. Xie Xie's skin was especially white. No wonder she had the nickname of the Moon Palace Fairy. Many men in Shu dreamed of her. Hsu Fengnian was far away in Beiliang. He heard that the Western Shu Administrator had been coveting her for a long time. If Chen Zhibao had not been the vassal of Western Shu and became the guest of honor of the Spring Invitation Cottage, Xie Lingzhen would have become a caged sparrow in the Administrator's mansion after she died at the hands of Hsu Fengnian by the Spring God Lake.
After Xu Fengnian teased him, he led the horse forward. He did not immediately look at the man in white standing in the middle of the three people at the door. Instead, he looked at Xie Guanying, who looked like a middle-aged Confucian scholar. His courtesy name was Shu Yang, and his nickname was Flying Fish. He and Li Yishan were once called "Northern Xie, Southern Li". They commented on each other's romantic life. Of course, what interested Xu Fengnian the most was not this person's extravagance in catching and raising real dragons, but his identity as the father of White Fox. For some reason, White Fox Face said that he was dead. Moreover, he did not take Xie Guanying's surname, but Nangong. Naturally, this was another matter of confusion.
As for why Chen Zhibao wanted to meet him, Hsu Fengnian could guess a little. This was because the third Son of Heaven's favored son who had the potential to sit on the dragon throne was the King of Yan Chi, His Royal Highness Zhao Zhu, the little beggar from back then. If Chen Zhibao wanted to legitimately walk out of Western Shu, he would have to make use of the situation in West Chu and become the key figure who would break into the capital of West Chu before the Southern Xinjiang army. Beiliang would have to play a key role in this matter. If Hsu Fengnian was determined to contain Western Shu's military forces, then Zhao Zhu's chances of success would be far greater than Chen Zhibao's. Of course, this time Western Shu definitely did not come here to beg for help. Instead, they wanted to make a hidden exchange. As long as Beiliang did not drag Western Shu's entry into the Central Plains, then Western Shu would not cause trouble for Beiliang's backyard during the Great War of Liang Mang. This would test the tacit understanding between the two sides. If both sides agreed, then everyone would be happy. However, as long as either Hsu Fengnian or Chen Zhibao was unwilling to take a step back, then after today, the two sides would completely fall out and fight to the death. Beiliang would be attacked from both sides, and Western Shu would also miss the opportunity to seize the throne in the Central Plains. Perhaps this would be an awkward situation where one step slower than the next.
This deal could very well decide who the entire Central Plains belonged to, or even the surname of the entire world. Otherwise, given Chen Zhibao's nature, why would he return to Beiliang and take the initiative to meet with Hsu Fengnian? Moreover, it was most likely Xie Guanying who instigated this white-clothed military saint to leave Shu and enter Liang.
It was probably because Xie Guanying was Chen Zhibao's trusted aide and understood the importance of this meeting. Thus, even though Hsu Fengnian's teasing made her seethe with anger and hammered her weak spot with a hammer, she still didn't show any displeasure.
The group entered the luxurious Jiangnan style residence. Hsu Fengnian and Chen Zhibao walked side by side at the very front, followed by Tantai Pingjing and Xie Guanying, and finally Xie Guanying and Xu Yanbing. Huyan Daguan and Tie Mu Die 'er didn't follow. Huyan Daguan said that it didn't look like he was going to fight immediately. He had to go to the streets of Lingbei City to buy some strange objects for his wife and daughter. Then, this Beimang martial grandmaster directly left. In reality, on this trip to Lingzhou, Huyan Daguan had already made it clear to Hsu Fengnian on Mount Qingliang that he wouldn't help Beiliang kill anyone. However, if Hsu Fengnian's life was in danger, he would step in to save him. Hsu Fengnian naturally wouldn't ask for anything. For a martial artist like Huyan Daguan who was extremely close to Wang Xianzhi's realm, unless it was someone like Xu Yanbing and Cao Changqing who had too many things that they couldn't let go of, no one would care about the world. For example, although Đồng Thái was a relative of Hsu Fengnian, he was also unwilling and disdained to care about the trend of the battle between Liang Mang and Liang Mang. It was the same for Sui Xie Gu. The reason why he stayed in Beiliang was probably because he wanted to occasionally show his face to Tantai Pingjing and get scolded.
Putting aside the weak Xie Guanying, on Beiliang's side, there was Hsu Fengnian whose realm was damaged, Xu Yanbing who was "half a step away", and the number one Qi cultivator, Tantai Pingjing. On Xishu's side, there was Chen Zhibao who was uncertain whether he had already transcended mortality and entered the divine realm, and Xie Guanying who was ranked first on the Immortal Land Painting.
They should be evenly matched.
The six people sat down in the quiet courtyard. As a woman who had been on the ranking list twice, Xie Guanying really had too many praiseworthy "unique skills". Among them, the tea she made was called "Yuhua Tea". Xie Guanying's hands had the reputation of lotus buds, and she was proficient in the tea ceremony. Countless Taoist immortals in Shu praised her tea as "neutral and clean, with high charm and tranquility. When you drink it, the wind blows in your armpits, as if you have become a feather and fly." The tea leaves that Xie Guanying used to make the tea now were the number one treasure of Mount Fire, the Pre-Ming Spring Tea. The tea utensils and tea sets that she brought from the Spring Invitation Cottage were scattered and there were as many as 18 of them. They must be the set of priceless "Eighteen Scholars". Even Hsu Fengnian had to admit that the tea made by this Western Shu woman in front of him was indeed pleasing to the eye. Her every movement was graceful and most importantly, it contained a kind of meditative and forgetful feeling. No wonder the Western Shu Taoists praised her so much.
Xie Guanying was the first to drink a mouthful of tea. After putting down the cup, she was the first to break the silence. Without any superficial pleasantries, she went straight to the point. "Cao Changqing is well aware that if West Chu wants to attack Tai 'an City in one go, they cannot lose a single battle. Otherwise, the entire Guangling Road situation will rapidly take a turn for the worse. At present, the Mo Sword Formation, which was born out of the great halberd warriors, has already surfaced. Several of the main forces of field battle cavalry have also appeared. Excluding the navy's 60,000 soldiers, West Chu has 170,000 soldiers on land. On the surface, they can be considered to be evenly matched with the imperial army led by Lu Shengxiang in the north and the 100,000 soldiers in the south. However, war has never been a battle of numbers on paper. Zhao Bing's army in the south is overall far more powerful than West Chu. "
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