The coachman whipped down his whip, bringing up a cloud of dust and smoke. Although Wen Mingtang covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve in time, she still coughed due to the dust.

“This heart is really too wicked!” Liang Hongjin, who appeared out of nowhere and had been watching for quite some time, waved away the rising dust with her hand. She continued, “Can’t argue with you. If someone wants to run, let them run. But to make others cough like this, it’s just too much!”

When the dust and smoke cleared, Wen Mingtang handed the prepared lotus root powder to Liang Hongjin and said: “The lotus root powder is ready, and some dried fruits and raisins from the Western Regions have been added. Everything is inside.”

Liang Hongjin was immediately happy when she heard this, took it, opened the can took a look, and said happily: “I like them all! Xiao Mingtang understands me!”

Wen Mingtang shook her head and glanced at Liang Hongjin who came out. Wen Mingtang couldn’t help but wonder when she saw that she was wearing a clean and neatly washed robe, her hair was combed meticulously, and even her lips and face were rarely smeared with some rouge. She looked so “dressed up”. She said: “But what happened?”

She knew Liang Hongjin well. This time of day was usually reserved for daily drills with the guards, so coming out without a coat of sweat and dust was rare. Even rarer was the rouge on her face.

Unless absolutely necessary, Liang Hongjin disliked smearing what she called “lard-like stuff” on her face.

Today’s Liang Hongjin was obviously different from the usual one.

Hearing Wen Mingtang ask, Liang Hongjin rolled her eyelids, spread her hands, and said helplessly: “The mission from Goguryeo¹ is here.”

Wen Mingtang heard this and was somewhat surprised, saying, “They came quite quickly. Wasn’t it said they wouldn’t arrive for another half month?”

Liang Hongjin said, “I don’t know what happened, but they came early. Maybe the road was smooth or something.”

After all, it was a long way from Goguryeo to Chang’an. Whether they came early or late was not their concern.

The reason why Liang Hongjin paid special attention to the Goguryeo mission was because of another matter.

“Those Imperial Guards and the people in the barracks are arrogant, and naturally they will not go to perform sword dances in front of His Majesty and the Goguryeo envoys. At this time, only we, the Ganzhiwei, will go and break the big rocks on their chests!”

As soon as these words came out, Wen Mingtang couldn’t help but laugh: “It sounds like those people are performing acrobatics in front of the palace!”

Of course, they were not really performing chest-breaking boulders or anything like that, but they were performing sword dances and sparring in formation. They were in no position to refuse.

No wonder, even Liang Hongjin, who usually didn’t wear makeup, had applied lipstick.

Wen Mingtang saw her hair tied up high and she was wearing a red tassel armor, and she sincerely praised: “General Liang is so heroic and beautiful dressed up like this!”

“I like to hear heroic, but beauty is not necessary.” Liang Hongjin waved. She waved her hand, holding the lotus root starch in the basket, stretched out her hand to pinch Wen Mingtang’s face, and said, “Little Mingtang is just so pretty!”

Wen Mingtang pursed her lips, smiled, and asked Liang Hongjin a few words about Zhao Sishan.

“Her recovery is going well! She’s quite adept at managing the imperial kitchen’s affairs. She was tamed long ago, but the real trouble might arise after leaving the palace!” Liang Hongjin remarked, clicking her tongue involuntarily. “It’s her elder brother and sister-in-law who are the real troublemakers.”

Wen Mingtang nodded but didn’t say much.

In the household matters of Zhao Sishan, if Zhao Sishan doesn’t speak up, they won’t intervene casually either.

After talking about Zhao Sishan, Liang Hongjin did not forget to mention Qiu Ning: “I’m keeping an eye on her! It’s the same as before. If anything happens, I will tell you.”

Wen Mingtang nodded and thanked her again.

After a few more pleasantries, Liang Hongjin looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she waved to her and said, “Xiao Mingtang, come here!”

Wen Mingtang was very puzzled by Liang Hongjin’s behavior. But she still followed the instructions and put her ear closer.

Then, she heard Liang Hongjin whisper: “Do you know what treasures Goguryeo brought this time?”

How could she know what treasures those tribute items were? Wen Mingtang shook her head and said with a smile: “It’s always a rare and precious object, but it has nothing to do with us.”

However, although it had nothing to do with it, it was still good to listen to things that were too rare.

Wen Mingtang looked at Liang Hongjin, who had a showy look on her face, and asked cooperatively: “What treasure?”

The showdown got a response. Liang Hongjin looked around and whispered: “The elixir of immortality!” 

As soon as it came out, Wen Mingtang, who was asking curiously, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth, paused, and said: “I thought it was some rare jade coral, beautiful jade, etc., but it turned out to be a gimmick!”

She just didn’t believe in any elixir of immortality.

Liang Hongjin was not the kind of person to believe it as well. The reason why she was so excited was because of another thing.

“It’s a pity that the Late Emperor left earlier. If the Late Emperor was here, he would probably faint from excitement on the spot!”

The new Emperor was young and promising, not believing in ghosts and gods, but the previous Emperor was deeply devoted to this belief. Buddhist temples and Taoist temples were built together, with the constant thought of achieving transcendence and ascending to immortality, eager to go to the heavenly realm to see the gods.

As a result, after taking too many of those elixirs, the imperial doctor couldn’t even pull him back, and he really “reached heaven” in advance!

This treasure of Goguryeo was in line with the Emperor’s heart, but it was a pity that the “Emperor” who obeyed had passed away in advance, and the one in the seat now was not good at this.

“It might be better if they gave us a jade coral from the sea, a beautiful jade, or something like that. Now it’s just a gimmick, so His Majesty’s response is mediocre.” Liang Hongjin said, helplessly spreading her hands, “Your Majesty showed his face once. He left the person to the people below and went back to deal with government affairs!”

When Wen Mingtang heard this, she said: “Our Majesty is diligent and caring for the people, which is a blessing to our people!”

The Emperor was a good ruler, which caused little headaches for those below him.

“In the past, the envoys from Goguryeo who came several times were still manageable, not causing any trouble. But this time, each one who came was quite troublesome!” Liang Hongjin talked about palace gossip, nudging Wang Mingtang with her elbow. “The two young assistant ministers from your Dali Temple must be in for a headache.”

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu? Why did she say that? Wen Mingtang became interested.

“The Princess from the envoy, originally sent to replenish the palace, you know, our Emperor only has one Empress, he’s quite devoted to her. So when the Emperor declined the Princess, she was actually quite relieved,” Liang Hongjin said. “She had long set her sights on one of the handsome envoys in the delegation. Now that she’s not marrying the Emperor, naturally, she’s going back to her old flame.”

Wen Mingtang looked at her hand. She just felt that she was missing a handful of melon seeds at the moment, and she heard Liang Hongjin continue talking.

“But that envoy has a fiancée back home, I heard she’s the daughter of some high-ranking official in Goguryeo, who also accompanied him here. Right now, the two women are at odds with each other, accusing each other of theft one moment, and claiming inappropriate advances from servants the next. The palace officials have been troubled by this, and since the Dali Temple has had some free time lately, they suggested sending officials from there to handle these matters. I heard the decree has already been issued for their intervention.”

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu ended up with this task because of it.

Wen Mingtang lowered her head and couldn’t help but chuckle. Before she could say anything, Liang Hongjin blinked at her again and said, “The fight between the two women is still a small matter. I watched the envoys talking to each other. Nothing is right, it seems like there is some secret hidden there!”

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Goguryeo was an ancient Korean kingdom known to ancient China. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, along with Baekje and Silla. Goguryeo existed from 37 BCE to 668 CE and had significant interactions with ancient China, including both periods of conflict and diplomacy. Most of it is in present day North Korea, with small part in northern South Korea and parts of China.